


I Wanted To Be Useful

by Ali_Aphrodite



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Abuse, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Alternate Universe, Angst, Angst and Feels, Angst and Humor, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Angst with a Happy Ending, Child Abuse, Fluff and Angst, Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Implied/Referenced Cheating, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Drug Use, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, LGBTQ Themes, NO SHIPPING MINORS, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Relationships, Platonic Soulmates, References to Depression, Sleepy Bois Inc Angst, Sleepy Bois Inc as Family, Swearing, i promise this fic isnt as bad as the tags make it seem its just a bit dark
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-27
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-12 21:27:35
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 14,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29017389
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ali_Aphrodite/pseuds/Ali_Aphrodite
Summary: Tommy wants to figure out how to help his family, no matter the cost. He will do anything to help, even kill if he had to. He is on his way back home before an ugly ass green man offers him a job. Of course, he accepts, not thinking of the consequences. It couldn't be too bad right?
Relationships: Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo, Alexis | Quackity & Jschlatt & Toby Smith | Tubbo & TommyInnit, Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Technoblade & TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Toby Smith | Tubbo & Phil Watson, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Technoblade, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Technoblade & TommyInnit, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot, Toby Smith | Tubbo & Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson, TommyInnit & Phil Watson (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade, Wilbur Soot & TommyInnit & Phil Watson
Comments: 31
Kudos: 234





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Again, a dark fic but much darker than the first one i made haha- trigger warnings in the tags. I wasnt sure which ones to put, uhh, mainly because nothing in this fic bothers me personally so im sorry if it offends or triggers someone-
> 
> i also posted this on a different device than usual so i cant tell if its marked as complete or not so sorry about that  
> thank you for reading-

Tommy wanted to help. He wanted to help oh-so-badly. He just doesn’t know how. He wasn’t _allowed_ to, even if he ever did find out how.

His family insisted that they were fine. They kept insisting that it was fine and he didn’t need to help them with paying. That he was a child and he should be having fun like one.

It was so stupid that they thought about it that way. It didn’t stop him from wanting to help either way. 

He knows that they were struggling, he’s not a fucking idiot. He knows that they weren’t doing _okay_. They couldn’t convince him otherwise. 

Tommy sees how Phil sits at the table at night, gripping his hair while staring at all the papers as if they would pay the bills for them. How he would stay up for hours on end, making calls and trying to decide whether they can go another day without a certain thing.

Tommy sees how Wilbur goes out for nights at a time, then comes back in the morning dangling his guitar on the floor, looking like a mess; missing parts of his clothing, them having ripped or been taken away for a reason he could never put his finger on.

Tommy sees how Technoblade leaves for days at a time, taking a bag of unknown contents with him wherever he goes for his work; Tommy also sees how he comes back home with bandages all over him, bruised and bloody. He couldn’t think of what the eldest did either.

Tommy also sees how they gave him bigger portions, meanwhile theirs got smaller. He has tried to refuse them, but they don’t listen. They say that he needs it to grow properly so it’s fine, that _it’s okay_ . 

It’s not.

Sometimes after dinner, in the middle of the night when no one is home but him, he throws it up. All of it. Tommy feels guilty for taking it from his family; he can’t make himself stomach the meal after seeing how he was getting special treatment for being the youngest in the group. 

As much as he hated to admit it, he would cry. Alone. Tommy would sit in the bathroom, sobbing quietly after emptying his stomach against the wall. He pulled on his hair, trying to keep in the screams of anguish at how unfair it all was. 

He had constantly offered to help, every day, in any way that he could. It only lasted a couple of months before he decided that they wouldn’t let him do anything no matter how hard he tried, so he gave up. Curse how stubborn everyone in the household was. He would sometimes go and help Tubbo’s family, they paid him whenever he did. Sure, it wasn’t enough to make an actual salary, but it was _something_ , and that was what mattered. 

Tommy would do his best to keep positive in front of the others. He saw how much his positivity helped his brothers and dad feel better about their situation, especially when they were exhausted. He didn’t show how much he was hurting, how much he loathed his life and what ever god existed for this cursed realm.

“Tommy are you alright mate?” Phil calls, pulling the teenager out of his thoughts. The family was all sitting at the table, eating _dinner_ , if you could even call the pitiful thing on the plate a dinner. Tommy felt disgusted as he looked at his plate; he had been finding it harder to actually steel himself to even put the spoon in his mouth. 

“Yeah,” he chuckled dully, staring at the wooden utensil in his hand. He could feel their gazes on him, the tension becoming thick as the silence continued for what seemed like ages.

“Why aren’t you eating then?” Techno questioned, pointing towards the teenager with his fork with a dull look on his face. For a moment, Tommy contemplated whether or not he should be honest with them. The adolescent felt guilty, not wanting to eat anything while the older members of the house were practically starving themselves for him. He stared at his plate for a few more intense moments, thinking a bunch of unrealistic reactions to his words.

“I’m not really that hungry right now,” he muttered, pushing his plate to the middle and standing up, not making eye contact with no member of his family. He ignored his name being called after him as he walked to the bedroom, pulling up his hoodie over his hands and flopping onto the mattress.

Tommy knew that things were getting worse, even though he hated to admit it. Philza was staying out for longer shifts, coming back exhausted for only a few short hours to sleep before he leaves again. Wilbur would go out and then come home in worse and worse shape, having bruises on his face and marks on his skin that were so bad to the point of bleeding. He stopped going out with his usual clothing, sometimes leaving with only a shirt and some pants. Techno would go out and come home with things as bad as a broken nose, or a completely bloodied shirt while carrying an extra bag home. Sometimes money, sometimes… other things. 

The teenager sighed, burying his face in his pillow as he stared out the window of the room that he and Wilbur shared. The moon shone on his face, brightening his empty eyes as he watched the sky. 

He had already cried himself out a long time ago, yet sometimes he felt like it wasn’t enough anymore. 

===

Tommy woke up the next morning in a better mood than he had felt in a while. Maybe it was the fact that he had barely eaten anything for the past week or two getting to him, but he felt _good_. He got dressed and walked downstairs, waving to Techno, and Wilbur who was doing the hybrid's hair. They both waved back as he walked outside in silence, intaking a deep breath before starting his trek towards the farmhouse where his best friend lived. 

As he walked through the forest he put his hands in his hoodie and pulled his bandana over his face. There were certain parts of the forest that had toxic air, deadly if you inhaled it, having learned from Techno and Philza. He rushed past the danger zone and burst into the clear field, sighing as he saw the place Tubbo lived in.

Sometimes he was jealous of his friend for leading such a seemingly good life, but he knew there was a lot more going on behind the scenes so then again, he wasn’t _too_ jealous. Tommy trudged down the path that snaked through the middle of the wheat field, brushing his hands over the crops and smiling to himself as small but oddly beautiful insects flew away at the disturbance. 

“Tommy!” a voice slightly high pitched voice called, startling him out of his thoughts as he searched the area for source.

“Tubbo!” he replied excitedly, spotting the shorter male as he jogged over. Tubbo was wearing a straw hat with some white and yellow flowers on the top, and holding a basket full of bread and an assortment of fruit in another two baskets behind him. 

"Hello Tommy!” Tubbo was, funny enough, older than Tommy although there was a very large height difference between the two of them.

“Ello,” he greeted with his usual tone, waving and looking over his best friend subconciously. He noticed a new bandage on the side of Tubbo’s face and he frowned, going to rub his cheek as a habit he had picked up doing this countless times before.

Anger boiled inside of him and the small flinch the elder gave, causing him to pause and wait for a sign of approval. A curt nod was given and Tommy slowly cupped Tubbo’s cheek pushing it up to exam it further. 

Tubbo had always been rather light skinned, with oddly colored pink cheeks and lips. He had chocolate brown hair that fell over his face, somehow never covering the light blue eyes that seemed to be so innocent. When Tommy had first met Tubbo when he was around eleven or twelve, he had vowed to protect him the best he could, due to the fact that he had originally thought the older was practically a six year old. You could imagine the shock when he found out Tubbo was older. 

Tommy started rubbing it while searching for any other bruises or cuts on his body. Although it seemed fine, Tubbo had it rough too. He hated how the younger was treated, especially because he couldn’t protect his best friend.

Relief flooded his veins when he found no new scars or bruises, inwardly praying that it would stay that way even though he knew it wasn’t going to happen. Tommy looked back to meet Tubbo’s eyes, both being caught in a staring match in the field. 

It would have been kind of romantic if it wasn’t for the fact that it was completely platonic, and neither of them actually thought of each other in such a way. They were, _platonic soulmates_ , as the bee loving teenager had called it.

Any outsider would immediately classify them as homosexual due to the was they interacted and start to judge them rather rudely, but he didn’t care. He wasn’t gay and he was sure neither the other, but Tubbo was his best friend and he would do anything to make him feel better. Even if it meant doing touchy feely stuff like this. They were still careful though, both of them could be in huge if they were caught being like this with each other, no matter how hard they tried to say that it was completely platonic and not romantic at all. 

Tommy was brought out of his thoughts by catching Tubbo suddenly smiling at him. He gave a small frown before backing up a bit, both sitting in silent for a few more moments. Their moment of bliss had passed and it was time to actually move on with the day.

“Anyways, do you want to help me take these to the market? I need to sell these before the end of the day,” he nodded, picking up the other two baskets that were on the floor. 

“Is it the same place?”

“It’s always the same place Tommy!” Tubbo laughed, smiling at the taller before starting his trek to the marketplace. 

“Yeah, just making sure!” he called, laughing as well while he ran after the older. 

It wasn’t too long of a walk to get to the market. Ten minutes if they went at a consistent pace. They had both walked this path more times than they could count, their legs moving off muscle memory as the two teens chatted. They only got to see each other once a week, so they made their visits count. 

“So, how has things been going lately?” Tommy asked, looking at his friend through the corner of his eye. 

“It’s been okay, to say the least. They haven’t been as painful as before so it’s pretty good right now,” the younger nodded, not pushing it any further. He knew it was a sensitive topic so he only asked once and then moved on in order not to stress the ram hybrid out. It was something that had only happened once, and Tommy made sure that it never happened again.

“What about you? Have you been doing okay?” Tubbo asked, looking up to examine Tommy’s face. He tensed slightly, knowing how it made the teenager worry when he didn't do it. 

“It’s been going okay as well, though it has been a bit harder to sleep,” he said, being honest but not admitting to everything. He hoped it was enough to let it slide, nervously looking out to the trees as the ram hybrids gaze burned into the back of his head.

“Okay then- Oh hey, we’re here!” Tubbo exclaimed, stopping before the edge of the market to look over the sea of people. It was particularly crowded today, the sound people shouting at each other to move out of the way put Tommy on edge. Even though he acted like it, he hated being around people for too long. He wasn’t very _socially upfront_ as Techno had said he was one day. 

“You ready Tommy?” Tubbo asked, grabbing his hand to prepare to weave through the crowd. 

“Yeah, big man,” he smiled, gripping his hand back to make sure that they didn't get lost.

With a small shout of excitement, Tubbo took off towards the crowd, Tommy giggling behind him as they bobbed and weaved between all of the people. They said their apologies when they bumped into people, ignoring the glares of disgust they received at the fact that they were holding hands. 

After a minute or two, they reached the stand. Immediately, they got to work, setting all of the items on display and putting on their aprons. A crowd started to form as they shouted to buy their product, the two teenagers attracting attention due to their skill at making the things more appealing than they actually were. 

Towards the end of the day nearly everything was gone, business was slowing down and they were starting to pack up the shop. It had been a very good day, they had maid nearly a thousand gold nuggets. Usually that would be enough to buy a couple of stuff that would usually last about two or three weeks if they were careful. 

It was starting to get dark out so they hurried with grabbing the baskets and practically ran back to the farm, not wanting to get caught by the mobs that sometimes lurked around their town area. It was a myth that there were actually any monsters that came out during the night, but no one took the chance to find out. 

“Thank you for helping me, Tommy,” Tubbo grinned, taking out fifty gold nuggets and handing it to his best friend. 

“Whoah, whoah, whoah, Tubbo! I can’t take this much! You’ll get in trouble with your parents,” Tommy exclaimed, shaking his head and taking a step back. He didn’t want to be the reason that the elder got in trouble _again_. 

“C’mon Tommy, take it! You did as much work as I did and are deserving of at least some compensation, so take it,” the teenager pushed it into Tommy’s hands, before waving and taking off towards the farm house. 

“Goodbye Tommy!” he heard as Tubbo ran into the distance, waving the whole way. 

“Bye Tubbo!” he shouted, stuffing the money into his pocket. He would pay him back someday, cause mainly if he didn’t the guilt would eat him alive. 

As he walked back home, with a much calmer pace than before Tommy thought. He had still wanted to help his family, even after they had told him no repeatedly. The real question was how he was going to do that. It was hard to find good work in this area, the only real place to find it would be in the castle, but he wasn’t allowed near it. 

He stopped in his tracks. Why wasn’t he allowed near it? Everyone else in his family could go near the castle, so why not him? It didn’t make any sense, it was so unfair. 

Growling to himself, he kicked a tree in frustration, staring at the small dent in the bark. 

And then there was a loud thud behind him. He whipped around and stared at the body on the floor, which was groaning as it stood up. His mind was racing; was it one of those night monsters that were in the legends? Was it going to kill him? Was he going to die? 

“What the fuck,” he paused at the voice. Okay, so maybe not a monster. A person? He stared before realizing that the thing was staring at him. “Why did you do that?” _it was a male_ , he assumed, examining the guy before realizing that he had an axe on him. 

“Kick the tree?” he asked, looking back towards the base of the wood. 

“No, fly into the sky- of course I mean kick the tree!” the other guy shouted, standing up and brushing himself off. “Now I’ve fallen and my hoodie is dirty,” he looked at the other with a weirded out look on his face. _What the fuck was this guy on about?_

“Well it’s not my fault you were in a fuckin’ tree like a dumb ass weirdo,” he spat, having a bad habit of swearing too much. He had been reprimanded by Phil countless numbers of times, but it stopped when the old man started swearing himself. Tommy hadn’t been sure if it was on purpose or not. 

Tommy laughed nervously when the axe was suddenly pointed towards him. He put his hands up and eyed the other guy. He wore a smiley faced mask and a _disgustingly_ bright green hoodie. Tommy inwardly cringed at how out of place the man was. How had he not spotted the bitch in the trees if he was so obvious to literally everything?

“Hey bitch, move your fucking dirty ass axe out of my face,” he shouted, putting his hands down and on his hips. 

“Watch your-” 

“Oh fuck off you stupid green man, the hell is wrong with you? Going around in an ugly ass fucking hoodie and a dumb ass smiley face mask in the trees like a goddamn radioactive monkey,” he shouted, flipping off the older as he smiled tauntingly. 

It was probably a bad decision to make fun of the guy who was currently holding a deadly weapon to his face, but at the moment he really didn’t care. He hadn’t really been able to swear at someone like this before and it was really exciting. 

Suddenly, the guy was laughing. He put his hands up and started laughing more, wheezing as he held his stomach. “R-radioactive monkey?” he said, laughing harder and making Tommy feel unnecessary awkward at the situation. 

“What the fuck you laughing at?” he demanded, glaring at who he could assume was older. 

“Ha, nothing-” the guy was standing up again. The air was a lot less tense, mainly because of the fact that the weapon wasn’t being directed at him anymore, somehow strapped against the strangers belt- thing- that crossed his chest. 

“Sure,” he muttered, crossing his arms and looking to the left. 

“I like you, your _fun_ ,” the guy stated, putting his hands behind his back and smiling from under his mask. 

“What kind fucked up shit-” he was cut off before he could finish. 

“You wanna work for me? I’ll pay you two-thousand two hundred nuggets every two weeks and you don’t have to pay for anything, you just have to accept,” Tommy faltered. A job? One that paid that much of an amount was just being given to him? Just like that? IF he was a big wimp then he would have cried. 

“What’s the catch?” he inquired, acting as if he wasn’t sure about it. _Of course he would take that deal, an idiot wouldn’t take it, especially with what’s going on now._

“All you have to do is come and train with me, for your job requirement,” Tommy raised an eyebrow and put his arms down before staring at the man incredulously. 

“That’s it?” he asked, not believing. 

“Yup,” the older man said. 

There was a beat of silence. 

“I’ll take it. Where do I have to meet you?” the teen asked, tilting his head to the side in a questioning manner. 

“Hm, right back here tomorrow morning at six am. Alright? Don’t be late,” that last one wasn’t a statement, Tommy could tell that was a warning. 

“OF course!” and he blinked, and the green man was gone. 

“The fuck?” he muttered to himself, looking around as he continued his trek back home. 

On the way back, he remembered that unfortuneatly, he wasn’t allowed to have a job. 


	2. Yup, I Fucked It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy goes to meet up with the green guy, only to find out that he agreed so something absolutely crazy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, a lot of swearing lol
> 
> im not to good at editing when I'm tired haha, also sorry for the late update. got school and shat 
> 
> also i fixed the marked as complete thing :D

Tommy froze in his tracks once the realization hit him. 

Shit. 

He wasn’t allowed to have a job, at all, under any circumstances. What was he going to do? The teenager wasn’t permitted to leave the house before eight in the morning which just added to his panic. How would he make it back to the strange man that early if he wasn’t even allowed to go outside? 

The teen continued his slow trek towards home, trying to come up with a plan along the way. If it was any other timeline where his family wasn’t struggling or if he didn’t need to do anything like this to help then he would have just not shown up, but in this one, he was gonna fucking help if it was the last thing he did. So what if he had to break a couple of rules in the process?

His attention was caught by the sound of a bird chirping. Glancing around like a psychopath, he found a small bird’s nest in the tree. Stopping once again, blue eyes watched as the bigger bird left, leaving three chirping baby birds sitting in the tree. His gaze lingered after the biggest bird until it was out of sight before turning it back to its children. They all promptly _stopped_ chirping and started roaming around the nest, pecking each other and making small noises as they -what he could assume was- play fought. 

Soon, another source of chirping came back into earshot, his eyes moving to the larger bird who had come back with a worm or two in his mouth. He chuckled as all the baby birds abruptly waddled back to their places in the nest and began chirping again as nothing had ever happened. If only he could-

Tommy stopped his train of thought, a metaphorical lightbulb flashing over his head. He grinned to himself as a plan started to form, the kid almost wanting to slap himself for not thinking of it sooner. He continued his trek back home as he thought over it repeatedly, taking out any of the flaws in his plan. It was perfect. 

All he had to do was sneak out of the house before the time he was supposed to meet up with the green fellow, and come back home before anyone else in the house was awake. Tommy was sure that they wouldn’t wake up either; every time any of the older members of the household came home they were exhausted and normally passed out into a deep sleep until it was time to get up for another day. 

How he was going to get out though was another thing. 

He squinted as the house came into view, the night sky illuminating the wood and stone brick. It was an old home, nonetheless beautiful though. Tommy would never accept it, but he quite liked the style of the place. It reminded him that it would be okay as long as he had the people he cared about. 

Speaking of the people he cared about…

“Tommy!” he heard being called out to him, making him pause as he stared at the source of the voice. Phil came racing towards him, seizing him into a giant bear hug as soon as the teen was at arm’s length of the rather short man. 

“Haha, hey Phil,” the teenager said, hugging his father figure almost as tightly as the older was doing to give him some reassurance.

“Where were you?” he asked frantically, searching over the youngest with a particular protectiveness and worry that Tommy never really saw anymore. 

“I went to hang out with Tubbo today,” he answered, stuffing his hands into his pockets and staring at the ground. He forgot to make sure he came home on time. He hated to make people worry. 

“All day?” his father’s question was disregarded as another voice intruded into the conversation once they had strolled up to the porch.

“Seems a bit suspicious that you were ‘ _with Tubbo_ ’ all day today Tommy,” the teen in question turned his gaze towards his monotone older brother, glaring at him with a sparse annoyance. 

“You know that me and Tubbo only see each other once a week _Technoblade_ ,” he spat, balling up his fists to stare at the oldest teenager in the house. 

“A week isn’t that long Tommy,” the hybrid declared, nonchalantly waving his hand and leaning against the wooden pillar. 

“Yes, it is Techno, especially when Tubbo-” the youngest halted, taking a deep breath and crossing his arms. He sighed in defeat as he felt two pairs of eyes on him, probably both looking at him with how fast he gave up on trying to argue.

Tommy had promised when he first found out what was happening to Tubbo that he wouldn’t tell anyone, _no matter what_ about what transpired behind closed doors in the Underscore household. In return, Tubbo had sworn he wouldn’t pester him constantly about keeping up his health and making sure he was okay nearly every five minutes. 

Tommy would never violate that pact, even if he was going to die. He would never tell anyone unless the adolescent himself gave him permission and that hadn’t happened yet, so he wouldn’t speak.

“I was helping Tubbo out with the shop today and helped him with his bee farm. I lost track of time today, I’m sorry and it won’t happen again,” he spoke carefully, not wanting to let anything slip about his new job offer. 

When he looked back at his father and brother, they were both giving him a look of doubt, causing him to sigh before he walked inside in resignation. “We believe you, Tommy, just be more careful next time,” he heard being spoken as he took onto the railing of the stairs. He nodded before continuing up, going into the room he shared with Wilbur. 

Tommy treads quietly down the hall, subconsciously stepping over the cracks on the floor as he made his way towards his bedroom. He remembered that tonight was one of the nights Wil was back home early from work when it wasn’t a day where the entire family was home. He softly rapped his knuckles on the door three times, waiting for a sign that it was okay to come inside. 

On some rare nights, he would have to switch beds with Techno because Wilbur wouldn’t see anyone but his twin. Those nights Tommy had always desperately done his best to drown out the sounds of crying and the sound of items being thrown inside of their room, along with muffled speech and soft singing. He had been told when he was about thirteen that he wasn’t allowed to eavesdrop on the conversations between the two, because it was private and it was _extremely_ rude to breach someone’s privacy. 

===

The tween had first heard the sobbing when he had come upstairs to get one of his toys from under his bed. Tommy had been walking down the hall when it came into the range of his hearing, causing him to freeze in his tracks and listen to what was being said. His bedroom door was open, which meant that was where it was coming from because he never kept it open. 

“I hate it so much Techno, he keeps doing it over and over again and it _hurts_. Both of them do the same thing every time because they know how much I hate it when they touch-” the words were cut short when he walked into the doorframe, peering into the room curiously to see what was going on. He froze as suddenly the eldest child was standing in front of him, blocking him from the view of who he could assume was Wilbur. 

“Is Wilbur okay?” he asked, trying to look over the taller male’s shoulder but failing when a hand was pushed into view. 

“What do you want Tommy?” he was asked, which made him flinch because of the small amount of hostility in his voice. 

“I wanted to get my plushie because I was going to take it to show Phil,” he responded excitedly, almost forgetting about his sobbing older brother. 

A door was suddenly slammed into his face for a brief moment, causing him to pause and blink at how sudden the whole interaction had been before it was swiftly opened once again. This time only enough to see a part of Techno’s face and for him to reach his hand out. 

The moth plush was shoved into his hands before the door was shut once again, this time being locked so one could enter unless opened from the inside. Tommy frowned, hugging his toy to his chest as he made his way down the stairs. He furrowed his brow and sat on the couch next to his dad, wondering why his sibling was crying and he wasn’t allowed to see him. 

His dad must have noticed because a rustling of papers was heard to his left before the man himself kneeling in front of him with a worried look on his face. “What’s wrong mate?” he asked, placing a hand on the smaller knee. 

“Wilby’s crying and Techno won’t let me see him. I don’t know why he’s crying,” he muttered, burying his face into the plush. It was childish, he knew but he was genuinely worried about his sibling. Tommy would consider Wilbur the person he was the closest to, and it hurt his heart that the elder was currently crying in _their_ room and not letting Tommy help his brother. 

“Well, Techno and Wilbur are maybe talking about something private you know? Maybe only for the two of them to talk about because the two of them are the only ones that can make each other feel better,” his frown only deepened at that, making him stare with confusion at his father. 

“What do you mean?” he questioned, loosening his grip on the plush.

“You know that Techno and Wilbur will always include you in their little duo, right?” Phil inquired, smiling patiently and tilting his head to the side slightly. Tommy gave a small nod, not too sure if that was true or not. 

“They include you a lot, but sometimes, because they are twins, they have their own small things that they do with each other. Understand? It’s something that only the two of them can know about because they are best friends with each other,” a small sigh escaped the older man’s lips when the tween only continued to stare in confusion, not understanding what Philza was talking about. 

“You know how you and Tubbo are best friends right?” Tommy eagerly nodded, knowing that he and his fellow tween had been best friends since they were children.

“You and Tubbo have things that only the two of you know about, yah?” again he nodded, his face going a bit pink with embarrassment.

He had recalled how his friend had shown him his favorite flower field, which was overflowing with bees and butterflies. They had played there almost all day, giggling to each other as they made flower crowns and held hands. Tommy had felt a bit odd since boys weren’t supposed to hold hands, but Tubbo had assured him that it was alright because they didn’t think of each other in a lovey-dovey way and that no one was watching. He had felt more assured after that, happy that it was alright to be nice to his friend like this. 

Later he learned exactly how people thought about friends who acted like them.

His father gave a bit of a puzzled squint at his response before continuing, making Tommy snap out of his thoughts. “Well, it’s the same thing for Wilbur and Techno, which is why they don’t tell you about it. It’s important to them like it’s important to you, understand?” the teen nodded slowly, coming to terms with the explanation. 

It made sense, he didn’t want his older siblings barging in on the things that he did with his best friend, so he wasn’t going to do the same to them. Soon enough, the two twins of the household came down the steps, Tommy immediately going to hug them both. 

“Sorry for disturbing your guys’ private thing,” he mumbled, burying his faces in their chests. 

He didn’t notice the grateful looks that were sent to Phil’s way, and even if he did he probably wouldn’t have thought much of it.

===

Tommy was jolted out of the memory by the sound of someone saying ‘ _come in_ ’ on the other side of the door. He slowly turned the golden doorknob and pushed in slowly, slipping into the room while trying his best not to disturb Wilbur. He was always careful during these nights, continuously trying any method he could to not trigger his roommate and cause an emotional outburst which he had caused last year. 

Blue eyes scanned over his sibling, checking to see if he was okay like he had done the last night the musician was home this early. 

Wilbur was covering his body, wearing his usual thick yellow sweater and his red beanie, along with black sweatpants and grey striped socks. He didn’t recognize the other male’s socks being like those before but he preferred not to ask. The nearly adult male hid his face from the youngest, besides one of his maroon eyes, which seemed removed as he stared out the window as Tom had done the night prior. 

Tommy paused for a moment contemplating on whether or not to approach him. After a few moments of slightly uncomfortable silence, he decided on the latter and tiptoed towards his bed, taking off the green scarf he had forgotten to wash and set it on the table that sat in between their mattresses. He spared a last glance at Wilbur before laying in his bed silently and sighing, staring at the ceiling while his mind raced. His plan would have to be flawless for tomorrow, he couldn’t afford to be caught. 

If later that night he got up to tuck Wilbur into bed, that was his business and his business only. 

===

As soon as Tommy awoke the next morning he was moving as fast as he could. He had checked the time and it read five fifty-two am. He was going to be late if he didn’t hurry up and get to the meeting spot; he can’t lose the job the first day that he had gotten it. 

Snatching up his scarf from the table and grabbing his shoes he tiptoed as fast as possible through the halls, rubbing the dirt off of his face with his sleeve as he made his way down the steps. Subconsciously avoiding the creaks in the floorboards once again, Tommy sped into the kitchen to grab an apple. He bit into it as he tied the scarf around his neck, pausing as he looked between the time and the apple. 

Groaning inwardly, Tommy took another large bite of the apple as he made his way towards the front door. The teen slowly turned the knob and pulled it open, flinching when a creak came from the metal holding the door to the frame. Swiftly flinging himself outside, the teen shut the door as gently as possible and locked it, keeping note to not go through the front once he came back and to go through the window. 

Once the cold breeze met him he tensed, staring out to the woods while the sun barely started to rise on the horizon. It would have been rather if it wasn’t the fact that he was going to be late for his job. Nearly jumping down the porch steps he charged down the trail he walked to get to Tubbo’s house, his footsteps slamming into the dirt as he ran at a rather fast pace. He was six-foot-three after all, so naturally, he was a very speedy teenager. 

As he raced down the path, he saw a quite obnoxiously green hoodie in the distance. He started panicking inwardly, hoping that he wasn’t late. Tommy didn’t exactly have a watch to keep track of the time with so all he could do was pray to the Gods of Prime that he wasn’t late. 

He almost literally skidded to a stop in front of his mask-wearing employer, going still as he felt his gaze on him. “One more minute and you would have been late,” he said, closing a compass looking clock and stuffing it into his pocket. 

“Sorry ‘bout that brov, not a morning person,” Tommy replied nonchalantly, shrugging and putting a hand on his hip. He frowned for a second before standing back up straight; he needed to stop doing that, only Techno did that and it was annoying. 

“You should start coming ten minutes earlier, don’t be late again or you’re gonna lose the offer,” the masked man started walking through the thicker parts of the forest, Tommy immediately pulling his bandana over his face and following. The man was insane for walking inside of this place without something to protect him, but then -what seemed like- porcelain mask on his face was probably keeping him safe so…? 

“I’ve decided that we aren’t gonna go through any training, you’re going straight into a mission with me that starts in about half an hour. We’re walking there on foot towards the reconnaissance spot, and from there we are running a black bag operation and finding a man who is charged with many offenses against the kingdom,” the man spoke so casually that he was surprised it didn’t give him whiplash. 

“Wait what?” he stared, a weirded out look on his face. 

“You must be joking right?” The shrug he got really didn’t help suppress his panic nor his confusion.

“Put this on and then let’s leave, can’t be in the forest for too long or else the radars will pick up on our presence,” a black bag was tossed in his direction, rather light for it being so big. He hugged the sack while he glared at the green man. 

“I never agreed to do _this_! I wanted a job and that was it, not to on some stupid spy mission with some random ass guy who is still wearing that fucking green-” 

“You agreed to this the moment you came here this morning,” he glared at the green man, eyes flickering to the axe that was held over his shoulder. 

“Could you at least turn around man? Fucking weird you’re staring at me right when you told me to change,” he muttered, placing the bag on the floor while he prepared to take out its contents. The sputters and laughs he got in reply was pretty funny, especially when he was still trying to defend himself after he had already turned around. 

Rushing to change, he pulled out what looked like a suit. He winced at how dark it was compared to the green that he could see out of the corner of his eyes. Carefully but quickly, he stripped off his own clothing and put on the one that was in the bag; he was only a bit self-conscious, but who wouldn’t be if you were changing in the middle of the forest? 

Tommy had taken off his bandana and immediately put it on again when he was finished. He looked over himself, the green man turning around and assuming that he had finished by then. Tommy wore a white button-up shirt with a black vest over it, black pants to match the vest and gloves that he assumed he should've put on his hands. He glared at the boots he was given, one reason being that it fits him perfectly and he hated wearing boots. 

“Okay, let’s go,” and suddenly they were walking again. You didn’t see him complaining about it. 

The teen wasn’t sure how to feel about this. He was wearing some stupidly nice outfit and walking through a forest towards a location he was very sure he didn’t recognize? 

Seemed a bit suspicious. 

Of course, he didn’t say anything about it. He didn’t want to risk the cash that could oh-so-greatly help his family, and that was final. The guy was right; he agreed to this the moment he came here so early in the morning, so there was no point in backing out now. They continued their trek in silence, Tommy occasionally sparing glances around the area and fumbling with the zippers on the black bag that he continued to carry with him. 

It didn’t take too much longer, but they finally reached the spot. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hahaha, cliffhanger go brrrrr


	3. A Bar and A Realization

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy is sent on his first job, excited to see what was to come. 
> 
> Tommy found out that he didn't like bars that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ALRIGHT, THERE IS A BIT OF A GOREY DESCRIPTION IN THIS CHAPTER! 
> 
> It's not too bad to me at least, so I don't really mind it too much. Sorry for this chapter being all scrappy and stuff, I tried to speedrun it because I realized I was starting to lose motivation in this story for how long it's taking. 
> 
> Oh yeah and there is also a lot of swearing sooooo, yeah. 
> 
> Anyways, enjoy!

Tommy stared at the reconnaissance spot, raising an eyebrow at how seemingly innocent the area was. Undoubtedly, it wasn’t since his employer was coming here. He wondered how he had never noticed this place before; the teenager had scoured the entire forest, he  _ thought  _ he had known the place like the back of his hand but he guessed not. Tommy made a mental note to come back here and look deeper into the forest. 

Blue eyes glanced towards the green man -who he kept forgetting to ask for a name - and then back towards the small clearing. He followed his employer into the area, looking around for any signs of what his job would be. It didn’t make sense, none of this made sense, and the lack of information was starting to piss him off. 

“What the fuck are we doing here, bitch?” he demanded, pointing a finger at the green hoodied man and glaring. 

“Dream.” what? 

“Wot?” he blinked, putting his hand back to his side. 

“My name is Dream,” a porcelain mask showed no indication of his employer’s emotion which annoyed him since he couldn’t get a good read on him. 

“Uhh, my name is Tommy?” he replied stupidly, not knowing what to do with the abrupt introduction. 

“Who’s the new guy?” another voice intruded. Blue eyes glanced around, trying to pinpoint the source of the voice. It didn’t seem like he had to do so for long because the figure stepped into view from his right. 

The guys seemed to be younger than Dream, which was apparent in the softness in his features. A white bandana was wrapped around his head to keep black hair from falling into his face. The man was shorter than him by a couple of inches, maybe five give or take. He also adorned a black turtleneck and a loose white t-shirt that had a flame logo on top. Black jeans were held up by a studded -also black- belt to go with his shoes. Ones that looked a lot more made for the forest terrain. 

“This is my new employee, the one that I was telling you about yesterday?” Tommy raised an unamused eyebrow at Dream, putting a hand on his hip in a Wilbur fashion and glancing between the two. 

“This is the guy you were telling me about? I thought he would have looked a lot different from what you told me had happened,” he frowned. What did the other guy mean by that? 

“I guess I would have thought the same if I was in your position.” 

“You gonna fuckin tell me what’s going on or did you just dress me up so you could stare, bitch?” he said suddenly, causing the older man to start sputtering out nonsense as he had done earlier. Pretty shit at defending himself when he’s called out. 

The other guy burst out laughing and walked towards the two of them, a huge grin on his face. At least the other guy was a lot more welcoming than this Dream guy. At least Tommy could see his face, not some dumb smiley face mask. 

“Nevermind, the story that you told me makes a lot more sense now that I can actually look at him.” 

“What the fuck does that mean?” Tommy wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not. 

“That the story Dream told me last night makes a lot of sense now?” 

“Sapnap!” another person burst into the scene and it took the teenager a lot to not groan out in annoyance. 

The other guy was wearing large white goggles that covered his eyes and silky brown hair that Tommy couldn’t help but stare at. It reminded him of Technoblade when he had his hair down. He wore a white long sleeve shirt under a brighter blue shirt with a red-rimmed ‘404’ donning the center. The teen noted that it seemed to be a recurring theme between the three as the new guy wore similar pants and shoes to the one named ‘Sapnap.’ 

“George you stupid bitch! How come you’re late again,” Tommy snickered, making eye contact with the other fellow as he sized him up. Seemed that George was shorter than Sapnap, which was funny since he was sure they were all older than him. 

“Oh, I’m sorry, it’s not like I had to climb out of a ditch you pushed me in because you wanted to get here first!” he raised an eyebrow, wondering what kind of friend would shove the other into a ditch to win a race. 

Dream raised a hand and the two of them went silent, redirecting their attention towards his employer. That same hand was gestured to him, causing him to unintentionally tense at the sudden awareness. “This is Tommy, he’ll be working with you two for today.” 

“Him? We’re working with this guy?” 

“Why would we be working with him, aren’t we good enough on our own?” 

“That’s not why I’m adding him and you know that,” the aforementioned adolescent gave a confused look, wondering what the hell was wrong with these people. 

“How old are you?” he was suddenly asked, causing him to give an unamused glance at Sapnap. 

“Sixteen,” Tommy could really give a shit. 

“What?” 

“He’s taller than you and like six years younger than you! That must suck, Gogy!” 

“Shut-up Sapnap!” 

“Can you guys shut the fuck up? I want to do whatever this job is already and get the fucking money, so I would appreciate it if we hurried up with whatever this is,” he growled, crossing his arms and tapping his foot impatiently as he glared amongst the three. 

“Whoah, this guy’s got balls! No wonder you picked him Dream!” 

“I’m right here, dickhead! Don’t talk about me like I’m not right next to you!” Tommy decided that he didn’t like Sapnap that much anymore. 

“We’re going into the underground bar, which is where our target is. Tommy here is going to be disguised as a waiter and get as much information he can about the place and about the boss. Then we’re going to go in and get him after the boss is found,” he frowned at how tense the air had become, everything suddenly becoming serious. 

“What exactly am I supposed to do in there? And I don’t see any place that looks like an entrance to a bar dickhead!” he blurted, glaring at Dream as he had done the night before. 

“I just said what you’re supposed to be doing in there.” 

“Well, that’s a pretty shit way of telling me then.”

“Right, I forgot that this was your first day,” Tommy relaxed a little but kept glaring at Dream; he also ignored the surprised looks that were sent his way when he yelled at the green man. 

“So basically you’re supposed to go in the bar and pretend to work there. While you’re pretending to work there you’re getting information on the guy that runs the place so we can go in and…” the teen raised an eyebrow at the falter. 

“Well so we can go and get him out,” his employer finished, leaning onto one foot and crossing his arms in a similar fashion that Tommy had. 

“So basically roleplay?” he questioned, eyes brightening a bit. 

“Uh, I guess so? I wouldn’t call it that but-” 

“Well, then this is gonna be easy! Why didn’t you just say that in the beginning, pussy?” he grinned, glancing while buzzing with excitement. He also found it hilarious that the adults would just gawk at him when he swore, most likely with confusion. 

“I still don’t know where the fuck this bar is though Dream,” he deadpanned, giving an unamused look to the tall green man. 

“Right,” and he started walking towards a set of bushes that were placed behind two oak trees. The plants were pulled to the side to reveal a small trapdoor. 

“The fuck? You want me to go down there? That’s a pretty shit entrance to a bar,” he asked, looking unbelieving at Dream who was looking back at him with an annoyed look. 

“That’s not the entrance to the bar, this is the entrance to the staff quarters. You’re gonna go in here and introduce yourself as a new waiter and then go about the job like everyone else,” black fingerless gloves handed him some weird black device. 

“Put that inside the collar of your shirt before going inside, we’ll be able to hear everything that is being talked about as long as you have this on you,” Tommy nodded, fumbling with the black thing before clipping it onto the inside of his collar. He looked back up and the entire group was gone, causing him to frown. 

“Fucking hell,” he muttered, kneeling down and clicking off the hatch before thrusting open the trap door. The teen was surprised at the lack of noise that came from inside. For a bar, it was rather quiet. 

Carefully, he made his way down the ladder, making sure not to slip and fall onto his back like an idiot. It only took him about thirty seconds before he got irritated; the climb down was going to take too long and he didn’t have the patience for it. Instead, he chose to slide down gripping onto the sides of the ladder, placing his feet on the same side of each hand, and going down in a matter of seconds. 

Before hitting the floor and shattering his ankles he jumped backward, bouncing a bit and smiling to himself. That was smooth. He turned around to march and find the place he was looking for but was stopped by a much bigger person glaring down at him. 

It was a muscular dark-skinned man that was considerably taller than him by nearly a foot, making him laugh nervously as he bumped into the guy. 

“Ello,” he greeted, fidgeting as he took a step back. 

“What are you doing here, punk?” Tommy raised an eyebrow, combating the urge to laugh in the man’s face. 

“I’m new here? I was told that this was the place to go when you’re a new waiter?” he technically wasn’t lying about that, which was a good thing he guessed. 

“Oh, are you? Who hired you then?” the teen paused, not having thought that far ahead. 

“Honestly, I have no idea. I was just kinda told, you work in this place now, go there. Now here I am,” he said, also not really lying about that as well, but he couldn’t deny he was substantially pulling a cover story out of his ass. Hopefully, the man bought it.

“Well, that makes sense. No one knows who their employers are in this place, they just come here,” Tommy let out an internal breath of relief, glad that he wasn’t about to get pummeled into the ground for not having a good cover. 

“This way,” the man started to walk down a hall, beckoning for Tommy to follow. “Sorry about that back there, we have to interrogate everyone that comes through there because they could be spies or something.” 

‘Pretty shitty interrogation if you ask me,’ the teen thought to himself. He was brought of his thoughts by the sound of music and laughter filling his ears. Tommy raised an eyebrow towards the entries before he was being led away to a different room. 

He flinched at the bright light once the door opened and was greeted by a bunch of women wearing  _ very  _ revealing outfits. Immediately he averted his eyes, ignoring how his face reddened slightly. 

“Ladies, this is a new waiter that’s been given to us. He’ll be working alongside all of you tonight so make sure to show him the ropes and get him working immediately,” and with that the door was shut behind him, making him internally groan. This was terrible. 

“Well hello there,” a voice said, making him turn to the source. It was a lady with pink hair, two black strands protruding the front around her face. She wasn’t wearing as bad of an outfit compared to the others which were good, so he kept his eyes on her face since there wasn’t anywhere else to look. 

“Come with me, I’ll help you. I don’t trust any of these other  _ ladies _ ,” she said, scowling at the other women in the room. No matter how much Tommy joked about being good with the ladies and how they all came flocking towards him whenever they were around, he was bluffing. All the time. He absolutely hated this, especially since he felt he was invading their privacy by looking at them. 

“I’ll take you to another room so you are more comfortable, and then get you a serving tray so you can start the job already,” he nodded rapidly, promptly following the nice lady into the room next door. He ignored the cries of annoyance behind him that called ‘you’re no fun!’ and ‘bring the boy back, we won’t hurt him!’ 

Yeah, like he would believe that.

After walking into the next room he sat down on a red leather couch before given a metal tray. “Do you know how to balance drinks on a tray? What about appetizers? Dinner food?” to all of these Tommy nodded, surprisingly or not being good at balancing things. That was mainly from his time at school, where the halls would be flooded with students and his things would get constantly knocked over. 

“Good, then you won’t get in trouble with anyone tonight and I won’t have to break up any fights,” he raised an eyebrow at that. The lady didn’t look like the kind of person that could fight. 

Without warning, he was stood up again and four wine glasses full of said beverage were placed on the tray he had just been given not even a minute ago. “Alright, here are some things to remember; do not let anyone know anything about what goes on back here, don’t get into any fights, serve the drinks and keep your head down, and do not go around trying to hit on the ladies. You’ll get your ass kicked faster than you can say Nihachu. That’s my name, by the way, call me Niki,” and then he was shoved through two doors. 

===

Tommy couldn’t say he was having a good time. He had walked around and served the drinks, having to go back for more every time he was out of said drinks. The teen had been hit on more times than he could count by drunk idiots; men and women, as to which he really wasn’t interested in either since they were all above age. He also had to kick a man who wouldn’t get off of him, and he could say that was very satisfying since he had seen the guy do the same to other people. 

He had done what he came there to do though, which was gather information. 

Quoting from his family and teachers from when he was going to an academy, ‘Tommy was a sneaky bastard.’ That was a good thing. In record time he had found everything he had needed, being lucky that almost everyone there was drunk out of their minds so they answered anything he asked. 

He did not scream when he was suddenly dragged into a back hallway,  _ he did not.  _

The teen whirled on the person who had grabbed him, only to be greeted by a bright green hoodie and a smiley face mask. Clearing his throat and brushing himself off, he looked around, questioning where he was exactly. 

“Let’s go,” and he was being dragged once again towards a different room. 

The air around his employer was tense, which made him feel awkward enough to not question what was going on. Not because of the axe that was held in the other’s hand. He blinked once he was lead into a decently lit room, littered with beer bottles and wrappers that prompted him to scrunch his face up in disgust. 

In the center of the room sat a man, who was glaring at George and Sapnap. He was restrained against his chair by rope and his mouth was muffled by white fabric. That was weird. 

“What’s going on?” he asked, wincing slightly at the heated glares he received. 

“Don’t ask questions,” Sapnap said lowly, turning his attention back to the man. He worryingly nodded, glancing around the room to get a better idea of what was actually happening. 

He was pulled out of his thoughts by a voice,” Mr. Jschlatt, you have been put on a bounty for thirty-thousand gold. Your head will be brought to the person who asked for you and your bar will be shut down. If anyone outside of this tries to speak of will occur in this room, everyone in this bar will be hunted down and killed or detained for life in prison.” Tommy blinked. Bounty? 

The man who was sitting in the middle of the room abruptly started squirming, panic brewing in his eyes as he shrieked through the gag. George and Sapnap stood back, blank expressions on their face as Dream stepped forwards. 

Everything clicked. 

He froze, staring at the man and the axe that was currently being held by his employer. Was that man about to be killed? What had he done that meant he was deserving of death? Tommy only stared, not knowing what to do. He should stop this right? But he was sure if he did then he would be killed on the spot for trying to get in the way. 

“Our client will be very pleased with the results,” and his head was chopped clean off. 

Tommy tried his best not to gag, repressing a scream of his own at the scene. 

Blood splattered all around the room, hitting the walls and its occupants as blood sprayed out of the stump of the goat hybrids neck. The head hit the floor with a sickening thump, face locked in an expression of pure terror as it seemingly stared at the teenager. Tommy only stared as blood pooled onto the floor from the head. The body suddenly went slack, causing him to jump since it had nearly fallen out of the chair. 

The head was swiftly picked up by George, who had set it into a box filled with cotton before closing it shut and sealing it. 

“Alright, time to go,” and they disappeared from the area. Tommy followed the group numbly, staring into space as the scene replayed in his mind over and over again. 

Rather quickly, he was met with outdoors, far away from that retched bar and in the spot where he had been earlier that morning to meet up with the green man. 

“Sorry about that,” he heard, eyes going towards a porcelain mask that endlessly smiled. Did he think this was entertaining? 

“Here,” he said, taking out a small pouch tied with rope before handing it to the teenager. 

Tommy raised an eyebrow, seemingly having done that a lot more than usual today. “Compensation for not letting you know beforehand about what you were getting into.” 

“Thanks,” he grumbled, seizing the bag before turning away and marching home immediately. 

He had to get home and change before he was caught out being out of the house so early. Tommy wasn’t sure if he wanted to leave home after that. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> whooo, that was a doozy wasn't it?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tommy starts his training and has a chat with Tubbo.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Whoo, sorry for taking so long to post this chapter. My brainrot is just not helping me today haha. I've been working on this huge project for the DSMP with some other people and its taking a bit. 
> 
> Anyways, take like a 4k word chapter!

Tommy isn’t sure if he wants to return back to the job, but the logical part of him knows better.  _ Although he couldn’t tell which part was logic and which part was just him being desperate apart _ . He was definitely traumatized by this, something that he would never forget no matter how many times he tried. He had felt numb the entire way home, thinking about how a man had been brutally murdered in front of him and he had done nothing to stop it. Then again though, he had most likely deserved it if the man was being hunted down by Dream. 

Who was Dream anyways? He appeared to be some unnecessarily edgy assassin guy that likes the color green and seems like a dumbass who couldn’t defend himself when accused. To be honest, that last part was funny since Tommy could point out something and Dream would go into a fit of stutters and mumbled words to try and convey that what he was doing wasn’t anything suspicious. His train of thought paused; he should be more careful when he does that. The green man could easily kill him in one fatal swoop if he went too far. The teen shuddered. That wasn’t very fun. 

Droopy eyes blinked, staring up at the ceiling as rays of sunlight poured themselves into the room. Tommy had been lying in bed for about an hour now, not being able to sleep due to the memory of the head rolling towards him on the floor flashing every time he shut his eyes. He had cleaned himself off outside of the house; washing off all of the bloodstains from his pale skin with the hose and disposing of the clothing into the garbage outback. He was surprised no one came outside to see why the water had been running outside, but maybe no one heard it since it was remarkably early. 

A shuffling to his left caught his attention, pulling his gaze from the ceiling towards the other occupant in the room. His hand twitched in greeting, Wilbur looking at him with confusion. The older man waved back, looking at the ceiling and then back to the teenager currently sprawled out on the bed like he was being crucified. 

“Why the fuck are you staring at the ceiling like an idiot?” his elder brother asked quietly, sitting on the edge of the bed with a shoulder showing. Wilbur was of a similar complexion to him except more pink in areas like his fingers and legs. His coffee-colored hair partially covered one of his seemingly orange-tinted eyes, who as of which were staring at him expectantly. 

Tommy knew that look. Wilbur would cross one leg over the other, lean to the side with one hand on his knee, and look at him when he was asking something. “What? What do you mean Wilbah?” he asked, subconsciously wondering if he should change his position as his own hair decided to start to fall in his face. 

“I’ve been watching you for the past half hour or so. You’ve just been staring at the ceiling, laying on your bed in the same position since I’ve woken up,” a frown appeared on his face, the abnormally tall teenager sitting up. 

“Really? For that long? I don’t remember doing that,” he muttered to himself, running his fingers through his hair. 

“Clearly,” Wilbur added, standing up and going towards the door. His elder brother was oddly elegant whenever he did anything, whether it be just walking down the street or brushing his hair. Tommy had acted like he didn’t notice when people would stare at the taller man when he was in public with his family. 

When Tommy looked back towards his brother he was already gone and down the hallway. The smell of breakfast wafted toward him, reminding the teen that he hadn’t eaten anything last night and barely anything suitable enough for breakfast this morning when he went out for his first job. 

Forcing himself to stand, he dragged himself towards the door and down the hall, his stomach grumbling as the smell of food becoming stronger. He was met with the sight of Wilbur and Techno sitting at the table with their own plates, Phil serving his just as he made it to the first floor. Tommy raised an eyebrow and sat down, muttering a thank you as the elder sat across from him with his pink-haired brother. 

He grabbed his fork and stared at his plate, forcing himself to swallow a string of protests at how his portion was once again bigger than the others. Grimacing inwardly, he swallowed a bite of his food as conversation started up around him. 

Why had the thought of leaving his job in the first place appeared in his mind? What was he doing, he couldn’t leave now. Tommy examined his family members, taking note of small features that only he seemed to notice with people. How Phil always looked a bit strained even when he had a smile on his face. How Wilbur seemed to be hiding more than he let on from everyone else. How Techno gave small winces at certain movements despite saying that he was fine whenever someone asked. 

He couldn’t just leave the job that he had just gotten because he was scared. The elder members of his family were always fighting to make sure that he was okay and that he had shelter, every single day. Tommy had to man up and do something. There was no way he could let them keep living like this when he had been given the opportunity on a silver platter. 

“-my? Tommy?” a hand being waved in his face caught his attention, making him jump at the sudden movements. 

“Hm?” he hummed, sitting up from his slouching position over the table. Wilbur put his hand down on the table, the teen unintentionally following it with his gaze before looking back up. They were all looking at him with concern and confusion, making him also confused as to why they were looking at him like that. 

“Tommy, are you alright mate? You haven’t been answering us and we’ve been calling you for the past five minutes,” he frowned, glancing back down at his food. 

“That’s the second time this has happened today. You know when I woke up this morning, this fucker was staring at the ceiling like an idiot. And then when I waited to see if he would do anything he didn’t, he just kept staring at the roof as it had offended him or something,” Wilbur added after shoving a spoonful of, whatever they were eating, into his mouth. 

“Bit creepy you were watching me since you woke up Wilbur,” Tommy retorted, snickering at how the elder turned to glare at him. 

“Not as creepy as you staring at the room for nearly an hour!” 

“So you were counting?” Techno intruded, making Tommy and Phil burst into hysterics at Wilbur’s shocked expression. The piglin hybrid only smirked at his twin, placing his own spoon into his mouth. 

“Techno, you’re supposed to be on my side,” the brown-haired man huffed playfully, crossing his arms and grumbling about traitors and backstabbing siblings. The house was soon filled with laughter and light conversation for the rest of the morning until they all had to go out for work. Tommy was left alone in the house feeling a bit better about his decisions to help his family. 

===

The next day, Tommy went out to work at the same time he had the day before, except a bit earlier so he wouldn’t be almost late like he had been the morning before. Running at a quickened pace, the teen made it into the spot in record time. He was getting good at running, which would probably help him in the long run. Glancing around the area he realized that he couldn’t see Dream anywhere. What had happened? Did he decide not to come today? 

Tommy paused. Dream never said that he had to come every day. He smacked his forehead and groaned, turning around as he prepared to race back towards his home. 

And then the green bastard jumped right in front of him.  _ Tommy did not scream _ , but he could swear his soul just ascended to the heavens because  _ something  _ had left his body and he was sure it was his heart. Tommy glared at the older man who was currently wheezing with his hands on his knees. “You should have seen your face- And- And you screamed like a little girl!” only to be followed by another unstoppable fit of laughter. 

“I did not! Oi dickhead, I did not scream like a girl!” he shouted, only to flinch because he remembered he wasn’t supposed to be loud. It was very early after all, and Tommy was sure that the neighbors wouldn’t be too happy to hear a sixteen-year-old swearing at six in the morning.

After Dream calmed down Tommy crossed his arms and tapped his foot, waiting impatiently for what they were gonna do today. 

“Well, today we are gonna do some training,” he stated bluntly, marching towards the opposite direction of where they had gone yesterday. Tommy frowned, the memory coming to mind once again. He decided to ignore it and move on, there was no point in thinking about something that didn’t really matter in the end. As long as he was getting the money then he didn’t care what he had to do. 

Following the fair-skinned man, the teen shoved his hands into his pockets and looked around. He silently wondered where they were going, since Tommy doesn’t remember this trail. Having memorized the entire landscape of a forest wasn’t too difficult when you had nothing better to do than sit around all day, so how come he couldn’t remember seeing this path before? 

Maybe he was getting rusty. 

Soon, after walking for what seemed like five minutes they arrived in what was another clearing. Tommy felt a bit anxious; was this gonna be a repeat of what happened yesterday? Was he next? Dream said that they were training though, so it couldn’t be too terrible right? 

The teen noticed that there were two black bags over to the left, which his employer immediately walked up to and opened. As the green man rummaged through them, Tommy started rambling. “Dream what do you have in that bag? Is it a dead body?” the teen could practically feel the eye roll from here. 

“Do you have more clothes for me in the bag Dream? Wow, you really like getting me dressed up don’t you Dream?” The male in question immediately dropped the bag, turning to stare at Tommy incredulously. 

“What the hell Tommy?” Dream shouted, exasperation filling his voice. 

“I’m a minor Dream!” Tommy laughed, wheezing even harder when he heard the man try to defend himself. 

“Tommy that’s not what- I don’t- Tommy I swear to god!” Dream added to his previous exclamation, gripping his head before bringing his hands down and turning back towards the bag. After the teen calmed down he walked up to the green man and looked at what he was rummaging through. He blinked as seemingly random items was scattered onto the ground. 

“Alright,” his employer finally said, standing back up and turning towards him. He held a pair of bandages in his arm along with a roll of tape. 

“Uh, Dream what are you gonna do with that?” Tommy questioned, suddenly nervous. He had only been joking about that; was Dream actually gonna-

“Hold out your wrists,” his employer demanded, making the teenager freeze. 

“Wait, wait, Dream I was only joking about that. You don’t need to actually do it Big Man, I didn’t think you actually like teenagers I was just saying-”

“WHAT?” the green man interrupted, giving Tommy a look that pretty much screamed ‘What the Fuck.’ 

“Tommy what the hell is wrong with you?” the older man questioned, practically screaming but laughing at the same time. “Why would you ever think I would do any of that? This is just to make sure that you don’t hurt yourself while you are training!” he defended, gesturing wildly to his own bandages that were wrapped and nearly hidden under his gloves and sleeves. 

“Oh,” that was then followed by a slightly awkward silence. 

“Anyways! How about we get a move on with training, eh?” the teenager laughed out nervously, holding his exposed wrists out to his employer who also laughed and immediately changed the subject. 

“Okay, so the reason I’m putting these on your wrists is that I wanna make sure that you aren’t gonna sprain them while we start learning alright?” he nodded, wondering exactly what he was going to be taught if he needed something to keep him from hurting himself. Hopefully nothing bad. 

And then a sword was tossed at him. 

“Dream what the hell?” he shouted, narrowly dodging the blade that nearly sliced his arm off. 

“Oh that’s right, you can’t catch,” what was that supposed to mean? 

Tommy picked up the weapon by its hilt with some difficulty, not expecting it to be as heavy as it had been in his hands. How had Dream tossed it to him that effortlessly? It makes no sense. “Hand it back, it’s too heavy for you,” gladly returning it to the man, he was handed another weapon. 

“Why do you keep handing me weapons and shit?” the teen questioned after being handing four sets of different items that were most likely used to harm others. 

“To see which one fits with you the most. It has to be perfect for your style, so I brought a bunch of different kinds to see which one works best,” Dream replied, pulling out an axe with enchantments engraved into it. 

“That’s gonna take forever though!” he complained, grabbing the weapon and examining the handle, immediately giving it back. It didn’t sit right in his hands. 

“I don’t think so. After you pick one then we can work on defending yourself against others, hence the reason I brought you to this place,” the green man added, handing the younger a pair of daggers. Tommy’s eyes widened; the blades looked so cool! They were dark purple with a blue gem-encrusted into the center of the helm. They had bits of gold on them that coated the bottom of the blade and handle. 

“I want these,” he muttered, still staring at them as they glowed in the morning sun. 

Dream nodded with a pleased smile on his face; one that he couldn’t see but could most certainly feel. “That’s good, now let’s see how you would use them.” 

Tommy had been returning to this spot every morning for the past week, learning how to defend himself when being attacked and how to use the daggers he had been given in tight situations. It was grueling training - the teen would come home every morning absolutely exhausted and sore. He would push through it though. Tommy was doing this for a reason after all. 

It was a bit worrying what he was being taught though. Learning how to attack people bigger and stronger than him, learning the quickest way to take them out, learning to analyze weak points, things that he never thought he ever needed to learn. He remembered asking Dream why he was being taught these skills, having been in an internal conflict the entire time. 

_ “Dream why are you teaching me this stuff?” he questioned when he had been allowed to take a breather.  _

_ “Do you remember the first job you had with me?” Tommy nods, remembering that morning very clearly.  _

_ “Well, I took you there first instead of training you to see how you would fare in a situation like that to see how much you need to learn. It really just looked like you need to learn how to defend yourself and not scream like a little girl when someone grabs you,” Dream added, wheezing at Tommy’s offended expression.  _

_ “Oi Bitch! I did not scream like a girl, I did not scream like a girl dickhead!” the teen shouted, standing up and huffing angrily.  _

After that Tommy had become more concerned, realizing that he would have to go on another job - or  _ mission  _ as Dream had so originally called it. Would he have to kill a man as Dream had? Tommy wasn’t sure he wanted to. It shouldn’t have been so hard to decide; the teen was too deep into this already, there was no way he was getting out of this unscathed. And it was for his family, so there was no question he shouldn’t. 

Why was he having such a hard time committing then? 

Tommy had been given the day off to go and hang out with his best friend. The teenager had nearly forgotten about having to meet up with Tubbo since he had been very preoccupied with the whole possibly killing people thing. 

Today he didn’t do anything too out of the ordinary. He woke up, got dressed, walked out the door, and immediately went to Tubbo’s place. He didn’t even speak to his family members, which was normal since on these days the teen seemed to go in overdrive. He had retorted that he was just being a good friend and dropped the subject. 

He still got strange side glances every time he went to go visit but didn’t get questioned anymore about it. 

Once a month he and Tubbo had been off for a complete day and on those days they would meet at the flower patch that they had found. They both worked on keeping it alive and well since it was the only place untouched by the villages or their families. 

Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be as pleasant of a visit with Tubbo. Tommy had some news to break to his best friend.

He arrived at the clearing of flowers, giving a pleased sigh when he saw his best friend sitting on the bench they had built together when they were younger. Tubbo was holding the fruit basket that he brought every time for some reason and chatting peacefully with the bees that floated around the area. The older male always seemed to have some weird obsession with the insects, but Tommy couldn’t deny that the bees were cute. 

He walked up calmly, putting his hands into his pockets so as to not startle the former. “Hey Tubbo,” he spoke softly, feeling a form of anger bubble inside of him at the flinch the aforementioned teenager gave at the sound of his voice. 

“Hey Tommy,” he replied, not turning back towards him. Tommy took that as an invitation to sit. He never wanted to make Tubbo uncomfortable or anything. 

They stayed like that for what felt like a short amount of time, but for all, they knew it had been two hours of just sitting in complete silence. Finally, Tubbo slowly turned towards him, scooting a small inch closer to his best friend. The younger teen didn’t move, keeping his gaze on the flowers and the trees as he stayed as still as he could while trying to appear relaxed. The two of them had repeated this ritual countless times, sometimes only taking a few moments while others barely even happening at all. Tommy didn’t really care though, he was just happy to be around Tubbo. 

“How has your week been?” the elder asked softly, breaking the peaceful silence they had resided in. 

“It was pretty okay,” Tommy replied with the same tone, slowly adjusting his position so that he was a bit more comfortable. “I uh, I got a new job n’ shit. It’s been going pretty well for me only working there for a week,” he added. 

“Well that’s great, how did you find the job?” he knew Tubbo wasn’t trying to pry, but he couldn’t help that small feeling that the elder wasn’t going to like what he had seen on the first day. 

“I met the guy in the forest. It was a bit sketchy at first, but y’ know, me being the Big Man I am, the guy offered me a job and I had my first shift the day after,” Tommy said. He wasn’t gonna tell Tubbo about the whole threat thing; the teen would have wrinkles by the time he was twenty if he kept worrying about the former. 

Tubbo chuckled,” What is it about? Like what do you do?” 

Shit, he hadn’t thought that far ahead. Fortunately for him, he was good at thinking on his feet.

“It’s like one of those things where you go and do whatever thing is open at the time? On my first day, I got to be a waiter in this bar and stuff. It was pretty poggers,” he said, not being completely true but still at least partially honest at the same time. 

“Oh, that’s so cool!” Tommy spared a glance at Tubbo, sitting up straighter as a frown appeared on his lips. 

“Tubbo,” he forcefully kept his hands in his lap and his face neutral, not wanting to spook the other. There were more bandaids than normal on his face, along with more on his hands and some purple splotches on his face. Tommy could feel the anger threatening to spill out of his mouth. 

If he was about to go beat some kids’ parents, then so be it.

His best friend looks away almost  _ shamefully _ , gripping the handle of his basket a bit tighter. The fruit still remained untouched after all of this time. Slowly, Tubbo nodded, his own pale hands going to cup his cheeks as he examined the wounds like he had done every time. 

There was a particularly nasty bruise on his left cheek, but everything else seemed to be  _ okay _ for now. Oh, how Tommy hated he couldn’t do anything about this. Pressure formed behind his own eyes as tears threatened to spill from the eyes of the other, neither making eye contact until the elder did so first. 

After a few minutes, they finally looked, pain and sorrow in their eyes as Tommy pulled the shorter in for a hug. This was so unfair, no one deserves to be treated this way, no matter what they had done. He made soft strokes on Tubbo’s hair, rubbing circles into his back as the elder sobbed quietly into his shoulder. Tommy was definitely beating up some parents soon. 

Pulling away after Tubbo had given the sign they held hands and sat in silence like they had done mostly moments ago. Tommy never let go, looking over the bees as they buzzed about. He wished Tubbo didn’t have to go through this, he always hated seeing his best friend cry. 

It had reached a quarter until mid-day, making Tommy realize he needed to tell Tubbo before he got in trouble with his dad. 

“Hey Tubbo?” he questioned, grimacing at how small his voice sounded. The aforementioned teen looked back at him with a silent question. 

“I uh, have something to tell you,” he muttered, squeezing his friend's hand a bit tighter as he became painfully aware of the bag in his pocket. 

“What is it?” Tubbo asked. 

“Well, um, there might be some days where I can’t visit you as much,” he stated, not trying to sugarcoat it as it would make him more guilty.

“What?”

He didn’t make eye contact,” Well you remember the job that I was telling you about? I uhh, kinda have to change some things on certain days so I can actually get the money for it.`` 

“I don’t really want you to be mad at me, so I brought you this!” he exclaimed, pulling the bag out of his pocket and handing it to Tubbo carefully. “This is what I got from just training with the guy, and I thought that I might give this to you to help your parents ease up on you and stuff,” Tommy added sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. Tubbo gingerly took the bag from his hands, opening the pouch and gawking at its contents. 

He didn’t expect to be tackled with a hug right after. 

“Thank you, Big T! You have no idea how much this will help,” Tommy smiled at the nickname, hugging his best friend back as he smiled. 

“No problem Big T.” 

===

How did he manage to fuck up so badly? He was so going to get in trouble for this. 

Tommy scrambled to get the blood off of his clothes and change before bolting towards his home, realizing what time it was and how much shit he was going to get for not being in his bed at seven in the morning. He was never going to be allowed outside again. How was he supposed to help Tubbo if he wasn’t allowed to leave the house? 

His mind raced as he sprinted home, hoping that his luck would maybe be good for him just on this one day. Yet of course, as he stopped in front of the clearing his family all stared at him, wondering what in the name of Twitch Prime the winded boy was doing. 

Yup. He was fucked.

**Author's Note:**

> mmmm, accidental three thousand words go brrrrr 
> 
> hope you enjoyed!


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